After watching the replay, here's my full report,
Johnston: Thrust into the fullback position at the last minute to cover Taaffe's injury was never going to be easy for him. However, I think he actually did a pretty good job all things considered. His kick returns were decent, especially that one in one of his first runs where he slipped straight through and made a break, as he showed some good footwork to beat defenders at times. Ran for 147 meters which is very good. Had the odd bit of ball playing, his positional play was faultless and he defused every kick that came his way. Made his tackles too. The one bad bit of his game was that incorrect play-the-ball penalty. That was a poor moment and ended up costing us big time. It was nothing special from AJ but considering he wouldn't have trained at fullback for a couple years, he did a pretty good job.
Mansour: I simply cannot say the same about Mansour. The other player that was thrust into the line up at the last minute and he simply wasn't up to the task. I've given Sauce the benefit of the doubt in the past but I'm over him now. Well past it. Right from the start last night he looked shaky with the Broncos making two breaks down that right side, one of which Mansour was all at sea on. We were lucky they didn't lead to tries. He put on the odd good shot in defence but that was about it. I am furious with his inability to even want to get up and contest a high ball. Not once did he make an effort to do so and that is simply not first grade standard. It was perhaps with the ball that Sauce was even worse though. I thought his running game was pretty weak and he looked slow, there was even a number of times he ran sideways and barely made any meters as a result. He dropped the ball coming out of our end and just didn't contribute a great deal. The only really good thing he did all night was the finish for his try, that's it. I'm over him after last night, he's done.
Paulo: Jaxson didn't fare much better unfortunately. Before I criticise him, I do need to give some credit where credit's due. I thought the defensive side of his game was pretty good. He made his tackles and had a lot thrown at him, yet he seemed to handle it well. Kept Staggs quiet all night and made a desperate tackle on Cobbo to save a try. With the ball, he was terrible though. His hit ups didn't inspire as he just plodded into the line and was a pretty easy target for the Broncos defenders. He doesn't pose any sort of a threat attacking the line and that fact was there for all to see last night. Gave the final pass for Mansour's try but aside from that, the play died and/or got screwed up when the ball got to him and I think Jaxson is a big reason why we looked clunky in this one. Doesn't have a passing game either. Three times (yup, three) we had a scoring chance, Cody had created the space for Jaxson and he just needed to get a pass to Mansour who would have been in open space. But no, Jaxson didn't even look to pass on any of those occasions and I'm certain we would have won that game if he did. It's simply not first grade standard. We need a left centre who is a threat, Jaxson certainly ain't that.
Graham: The only one of our outside backs who you could actually say was outstanding in this one, he was really solid. His hit ups were strong and he didn't shy away from the dirty work, making 115 meters off 11 runs. There was a couple of times he threatened to break through and then there was two instances where he actually did break through and he almost scored off one of those weaving runs through some great footwork and a show of strength. Did his job defensively all night too, didn't put a foot wrong there which was good to see.
Milne: A bit of a mixed night for Taane I think. I enjoyed his willingness and ability to put his hand up and do the shit work coming out of our own end. He certainly didn't shy away from this area, making 122 meters and some of his runs were quality stuff. defused all kicks that came his way too. A mixed bag in defence though as he came rushing in a lot. it worked a few times and he shut down the play but he got caught out heavily in the second half when the Broncos scored. Graham had his man well and truly covered so for the life of me I cannot understand why he rushed in and left Oates out there. it was stupid, no need for it at all and it ended up costing us the game in the end really.
Walker: A very, very off night for Cody. I'm pretty disappointed in him actually. On a night where we really needed him to step up in the right way, he failed to deliver. I think he tried to do too much in the first half and ended up well and truly over-playing his hand. He then went completely missing for 40 minutes and provided basically nothing which is perhaps the most disappointing part about his night. I know he copped that knock to the knee but the fact remains he was still out there so should have done the job. He did play a nice role in Mansour's try and created three other chances through some beautiful ball playing. Paulo fluffed every one of them though and the play didn't come off so gotta give Cody credit there because he was let down by his outside men when it was on. He just looked out of sorts and I thought his attitude was way off. Pretty disappointing from our best player to start the year but I'm sure he'll get it sorted and step up.
Ilias: Lachie wasn't bad at all. Thought he did okay in his second ever career game. Played his role for the most part and executed it well. There was a number of times he combined well with Cody and some other players and Lauchie actually created a few chances for them, it was just a shame we couldn't finish it off. He played pretty direct and straightened the attack. A nice touch at second receiver for our try. A top notch effort in defence, he looked very solid there too. It was just his kicking game that left a bit to be desired for me. I know he's only young but he does have a good kicking game and needs to kick more, it can't just be left up to Cody.
